Recent letters express various views regarding funding for Meals on Wheels and other helpful local programs, and all such correspondence to this Opinion section makes sense. However, we all know that many of our local, county, state and federal politicians are some of the "best that money can purchase," backed by corporate interests and by special interests and/or lobbyists.

The bottom line, sadly, for developers, corporate interests, real estate moguls, etc., is revenue. These people do not care about programs which give assistance to seniors. They do not care about low-income rental housing. They care about money, and, rather than the desire to propose useful and compassionate projects, they become obsessed with greed, and thus, play many of our local and state political reps like a piano.

Meanwhile, affordable rents, senior assistance programs and the like are abandoned or even forgotten. This needs to be changed. Too many people depend upon certain social amenities. Let us remember all of this with the advent of the next election cycle.

George Sigrist, Palm Bay

Training a waste of tax dollars

When my daughter was a freshman at Satellite High School last year she found out a student may have done something inappropriate and told him, "If you can't tell your parents or your swim coach about it you shouldn't be doing it."

Maybe Congress should have a great swim coach instead of using taxpayer money for anti-sexual harassment training. Unreal and a waste of money.

Mandy Bailey, Satellite Beach

The good, the bad, that tax plan

Random thoughts concerning the proposed tax regulations:

Bad for the guy with a large family. Exemptions gone.

Good for the guy with a large inheritance. Estate tax gone.

Ken Byrnes, Melbourne

'Will it take a mushroom cloud?'

I have been writing to Congressman Bill Posey and Sen. Marco Rubio of late urging them to vote against the tax bill currently making its way through Congress and I usually throw in my feelings about the disaster that is now our president. They eagerly answer the question about taxes with the Republican talking point lies about how it will help the middle class, but they never, never, never answer my criticisms about the behavior of our president.

It got me to wondering about the level of embarrassment that will finally make these representatives of the people, 70 percent of whom think our president is not fit to serve, do something about his erratic behavior.

He now wants us to believe that his own voice on a tape saying he grabbed women's genitals is not his own voice. He sends tweets that promote hate of Muslims.

And so, I ask, in this open letter to Posey and Rubio, what will it take? What is your limit to this man's unabashed pathological lying behavior? How embarrassed do we need to get before you act and open your mouths, publicly, about the unconscionable acts of this man? Will it take a mushroom cloud?

Joe Tierno, Melbourne Beach

Bar's going lower and lower

We have reached the tipping point in climate, religion, ecology, politics and civility. The new norm will be set to a lower bar than the preceding one. There is a term for that; it is “shifting baseline syndrome."

It can be seen in the polarization of our country. There is only one strong wing of our body politic and rather than soaring we are spiraling downwards. No longer are facts things to be trusted and built upon, rather opinions are what matter. “Alternate facts” are bandied about by those who are uncomfortable with scientific facts. “Fake news” is screamed by those who get caught lying and cheating and the gullible believe them. Simple Economics 101 math is muddied with terms like “dynamic scoring." Voters are conned into voting against their own self-interests.

Passionate but dishonest talking points are repeated like some mantra. Closed minds of tribalism have made rational discussion impossible. Admitting personal or party failures has been replaced by denials and shifting blame. Thoughtful oration and expression have given way to spewing vile stream of consciousness tweets.

Our cherished Tree of Liberty has produced some strange and bitter fruit.